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UMass grad students from Iran create tribute to those who died in 9/11 terrorist attacks

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UMass grad students Soroush Farzinmoghadam, left, with the help of Nariman Mostafavi designed a tribute to Sept. 11 that is on display at the UMass Campus Center. They stand in front of a poster describing the installation.
(Diane Lederman/The Republican)

AMHERST — They were teenagers living in Tehran when the Twin Tower’s fell at the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, but what they saw haunted them even 6,000 miles away.

Now as doctoral students at the University of Massachusetts, Soroush Farzinmoghadam with the help of Nariman Mostafavi and others have designed a tribute to that day – an installation that will be on display in the Campus Center through Feb. 27.

Farzinmoghadam created “UMass 9/11 Intervention” for his master’s thesis in architecture. He is also a doctoral student in regional planning.

The installation's dimensions of 9 by 14 are drawn from the month of the attack and the sum of all of the figures in the date 9/11/2001. The sculpture features seven columns – one for each of the four flights, one for the Twin Towers and one each for the Pentagon and the field in which the fourth plane crashed. Their shapes and placement relate to certain moments in time that morning.

Each victim is represented by a glowing strand of fiber optic cable hanging from the structure's ceiling, with its position and length determined by factoring in the age, year and birthplace of the individual who died. The shorter strands represent children.

“We didn’t do this as Iranians,” said Mostafavi, a doctoral student in building and construction technology. “We are human beings.”

“You don’t have to be American,” to be affected by the tragedy. “You just have to be a human being.”

He said he wants to “address the similarities” between people. Farzinmoghadam, 30, said he is hoping “to use the arts as a tool that helps the conversation.”

UMass grad students Soroush Farzinmoghadam, right, with the help of Nariman Mostafavi, designed a tribute to Sept. 11 that is on display at the UMass Campus Center. The fiber optic strands over their heads represent each person who died that day.Diane Lederman/The Republican

After the news of the attacks came to Tehran, some people were glad for the tragedy, feeling that America deserved it for all of its reaches into other countries.

“I don’t feel happy,” Farzinmoghadam said. He said he felt great sadness for the people who died.

Mostafavi, 28, said people in Iran were also afraid that what happened would lead to war in the Middle East.

But later that night, thousands gathered in Madar Square for a candelight vigil “to show sympathy to the victims,” Farzinmoghadam said.

Mostafavi said because it was such a huge event and affected so many people they “wanted to stay as abstract as possible.” They didn’t want to make people depressed.

The two share an office as graduate students, both work in the physical plant building and talked about the piece constantly. Mostafavi said they’d go back and forth “what if this,” and “what if that,” he said.

Farzinmoghadam said he didn’t want to use names in the exhibit – faces of all those who died are part of a poster explaining the exhibit’s creation. “For me they are unknown people.” But he wanted to capture each person who died through the fiber optic strands providing an impressionistic feel.

He said the strands were inspired by a film clip he saw of people leaping from the North Tower as flames enveloped the building. The fibers with their curls suggest the falling people, he said.

Ideally, they would have had it in place for the Sept. 11 anniversary, but getting the project in place took raising money, securing permits and the site. They had to ensure that in the public space it would be safe, Farzinmoghadam said. And they had to raise about $5,000. They spent three weeks during winter term building it along with Daniel R. Pepin, Nevin Gomez and Matthew Sutter.

Although the lighting is not perfect for the space, they chose the location to be visible. What happened that day “is related to daily life whether we know about it or not,” Farzinmoghadam said.

He said what happened that day shows itself in the controversy surrounding the National Security Administration. Or it shows itself with the terrorist attacks that continue and the drone attacks as well, Mostafavi said.

And they said the piece transcends the events. “It should be condemning wars” and represent a marker “for all people who have had their life to violence to viciousness.”

The piece is on the first floor of the center and the building is open 24 hours a day.